BJ precinct vote stirs furore

A row has erupted over the election of convenor for the Bondi Junction Precinct Committee with Waverley Council declaring the vote invalid and the newly-elected precinct executive telling the council to butt out.

The Labor and Greens councillors moved an urgency motion at the May 24 council meeting after complaints the council had intervened in the annual general meeting election on May 18 and applied incorrect voting procedures. The motion, passed unanimously, ruled the vote invalid and called on the general manager to fix a date for a new AGM within four weeks.

But the newly-elected co-convenor, former mayor George Newhouse, said the council did not have the power to impose its will on a residents’ group.

“It’s not a matter for the council,” he said.  “The precinct executive has decided we will ask our residents what they want to do at the next meeting, and whether they want to have another AGM.”

The next precinct meeting is scheduled for August 17 and General Manager Tony Reed is now seeking legal advice on whether the council can demand a new vote.

Mayor Sally Betts said councillors had thought it was a problem but the council may not have the authority to intervene.

“Councillors have no power to tell the precinct what to do. It’s a community organisation facilitated by council; if we think they should do something we can ask but we cannot enforce it,” she said.

“I believe there was a different interpretation of the voting by a council officer, and that’s a matter of opinion, but I don’t know that it disadvantaged anyone in particular.”

Bondi Junction resident Danielle Ecuyer, who also stood for the office of convenor, said the outcome of the vote was irrelevant; it was the process that mattered.

“Council intervened in the first instance – whether that changed the result does not really matter. What matters is that they imposed incorrect procedures and residents who complained on the night were screamed down,” she said.

Frank Cahill, another Bondi Junction resident, said the council was being inconsistent.

“I don’t recall anyone from council being at the AGM last year,” he said. “When we walked in this year it was an extraordinary procedure with three council staff handing out red cards. You felt like you were walking into a voting booth.

“The council took absolute control of the AGM, improperly enforced incorrect procedures on that meeting and now, after a unanimous vote to invalidate the result and hold another AGM, the general manager says the council may not have the power to intervene?”

Mr Cahill said it  was appropriate for the general manager to notify the elected BJ precinct executive members but not appropriate for him to accept and act on their advice.

“The correct action for the general manager is to implement the council decision. That will give residents certainty as we now don’t have a legitimately elected precinct executive.”

At the AGM only one person per household was allowed to vote and restricted to two representatives on the executive, in addition to the convenor and secretary. Those positions were pre-allocated for development applications and traffic. Mr Cahill said that was not consistent with precinct policy and differed from other Waverley precincts.

The row is fuelled by suspicions the AGM was politicised. There are reports that twice as many people as usual attended the meeting, and half those present left immediately after the vote.